It has been customary in the application of band clamps, such as attaching a flexible hose to a fitting, to use a hand held tool that is provided with means for tightening the band of the band clamp and for cutting the band when the proper tension has been attained. Many times during the use of such hand held tools, the proper operation is difficult or impossible because of obstructions encountered in the workplace. While there are instances in other fields wherein a handle may be repositioned and retained, the tools used in the tightening and cutting of band clamps have had handles in one fixed position.